Gypsies cleared out from outskirts of Rome following crackdown order by right-wing mayor

Italy has become the latest country to begin a clear out of illegal Roma Gypsy campsites - just days after France began a similar controversial policy.

Twenty Roma travellers who had set up homes in camper vans and caravans were moved on from their site after being offered a paid for one way trip back to Romania.

The clear out took place at an illegal camp on the outskirts of Rome, which was then bulldozed by city council staff after mayor Gianni Alemanno announced the crackdown.

Right-wing: Mayor Gianni Alemanno said: ''The camps will begin to be closed down this week and checks carried out'

Speaking on Italian TV right-wing mayor Alemanno said that illegal camps would be dismantled, with Roma travellers being given money to help pay for them to leave the country and return to Romania.

He said the sites were a health hazard and added that he already had reports of Roma travellers arriving across the border from France, after premier Nicolas Sarkozy began his country’s clampdown.

Mayor Alemanno, a former Fascist, said: 'The camps will begin to be closed down this week and checks carried out. We are talking about numerous camps that are very small, often with only five to ten residents, and which are frequently in extremely dangerous locations.

'We need to help children and women, but it is equally clear that people who have arrived in Rome must be able to support and house themselves adequately, otherwise they have to leave.

'We cannot allow these illegal camps to exist. Whoever comes to Rome must have somewhere defined to live or they must be on a legitimate site. We need to be able to control our territory.

'In order to rapidly achieve this objective we have created a special task force of 200 people who will deal with this situation. Twenty people cleared from one site have accepted a financial offer from the council to help pay for their return to Romania.

'We have already had reports of a rise in the number of French registered cars parked at these sites.'

TV footage of the clear out at the camp at Quartaccio on the edge of Rome, showed a bulldozer knocking down a precarious looking shelter made out of wood and cardboard.

The area was covered in rotting rubbish and packs of wild dogs could also be seen scavenging for food while children played nearby as parents looked on at the destruction.

However not all appeared to have taken up the offer from Rome council with one Roma gypsy interviewed saying: 'I’m not going to Romania. I’ll just set up camp somewhere else.

'It’s worse in Romania - why would I go back?

'Lots of others ran away as soon as the council teams turned up and they will do the same as me.'

Italians view Roma Gypsies as responsible for soaring crime rates and mayor Alemmano’s 'Operation Nomad' as he has called it has been warmly welcomed.

Local resident Valeria Franco said:”It’s about time something was done about the Roma Gypsies.

'The whole area was just a mess and the stench in the summer was stomach turning.'

Mayor Alemanno is due to travel to Paris next week where he will meet immigration minister Eric Besson to further discuss the issue and Italy’s interior minister Roberto Maroni will also be present.

Earlier this year, mayor Alemanno authorised the demolition of Rome’s largest gypsy camp, the Casilino 900, which had 600 residents and had existed for 40 years.

Last summer the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, visited the Casilino camp and expressed 'serious concerns' about Italy’s policies towards its gypsy minority, whom he said faced 'a persistent climate of intolerance'.

There have been several cases of camps being deliberately targeted by vigilante groups armed with firebombs and several sites have been attacked with makeshift homes burnt.

There are an estimated 150,000 Gypsies in Italy, nearly half of whom were born in the country and have Italian citizenship and between 12,000 and 15,000 Roma live in Rome.

Later mayor Alemanno stressed that only those Roma travellers found living illegally in camps would be deported.

He said: 'This is not expulsions on ethnic basis, this is expulsion of those found to be in Italy illegally and living on these illegal camps.

'We need to have a common strategy across Europe and we need to make sure that all travellers are treated equally.'

Share or comment on this article:

Gypsies cleared out from outskirts of Rome following crackdown order by right-wing mayor